Casting announcement for Opera North's new Kiss Me, Kate tour

Opera North is bringing you an encore of their award-winning production Kiss Me, Kate in the form of a new UK tour and the cast has just been confirmed. Meet this powerhouse cast and crew.

Soprano Stephanie Corley is set to star in musical Kiss Me, Kate as Lilli Vanessi/Kate. Her previous stage credit with Opera North was her role as Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow for which she was highly praised for her "delightful" (The Telegraph) and "thrilling performance" (Bachtrack). Corley has won a Philip & Dorothy Green Award and studied at both the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. Her repertoire includes Mozart, Verdi, Britten, Rossini and Vaughan Williams.

The talented opera singer will be joined by Indonesian-Dutch singer and actor Quirijn de Lang (Trouble in Tahiti), who is reprising his role as Fred Graham/Petruchio. Quirijn de Lang's operatic repertoire is rooted in Britten, Donizetti, Rossini, and Mozart, but also delves outside the mainstream. He studied singing at both the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Milanese Scuola di Musica.

Zoë Rainey will be playing Lois Lane/Bianca in this show-stopping homage to Shakespeare. She is known for playing Belle's mother in Disney's live-action rendition of Beauty and the Beast (2018) in which she starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson. Rainey was recently nominated for a 2018 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for An American in Paris.

Alan Burkitt is also set to reprise his role as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio. Burkitt previously portrayed the character during the Welsh National Opera production in 2016.

Other cast members include Aiesha Pease as Hattie, James Hayes as Harry Trevor/Baptista, Stephane Anelli as Paul, Malcolm Ridley as Harrison Howell, Jack Wilcox as Hortensio, and both Joseph Shovelton and John Savournin as First Gangster and Second Gangster respectively.

Kiss Me, Kate is written by Samuel and Bella Spewack and features music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is a musical re-imagining of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Some classic songs in the production include "So In Love," Too Darn Hot," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."

James Holmes is set to conduct the Opera North production and will feature choreography by Will Tucket and set design by Colin Richmond.

The first leg of the Kiss Me, Kate tour is scheduled for Leeds Grand Theatre in May. It will feature a 12-show run at the London Coliseum from 20 June 2018 until 30 June 2018. To see, or not to see? There's no question about it! You won't want to miss your chance to see this talented all-star cast perform on tour this summer!

For affordable tickets to see Kiss Me, Kate during the tour's stop at the London Coliseum, click here.